Lisa Simpson, Matt Groening’s pointy-haired overachiever, once tried to convince herself that winning wasn’t everything. This led to a nightmarish fantasy in which she hooked up with Art Garfunkel, Jim Messina and John Oates and sang their number two hit, “Born to Runner-Up,” to a jeering audience. While there may be no shame in losing, it’s rarely the goal, in pop culture as in life. But photographer Sandy Nicholson’s new exhibit and accompanying book, 2nd: The Face of Defeat, exalts second place. Many of his shots are candy-coated in irony—one of two absurdly devastated “power cheerleaders,” for instance. Nicholson’s best work, however, gives his subjects a grace to which victors could never lay claim. A young steer rider from the Markham Rodeo, with her pink fringes and blasé stare, proves being the runner-up can be dignified, cool and strangely seductive.

Second. Artwork from $1,000. Sept. 22 to 26. Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W., 416-531-4635, www.magentafoundation.org.